Branston Water Park

Today's Canal : Trent and Mersey

Our target for today was Branston, just on the latest edge of  Burton-on-Trent. As we have yet to identify a church service within walking distance for tomorrow we left open the possibility of going a bit further. However, this is a Fifth Sunday (only Anglicans know what that means!) and many groups of churches use this as a reason/excuse for holding only one service for them all together. No consideration is given to the proximity of that place to the canal . . . Further, this morning started off reasonably cool with a stiff breeze while the forecast for this afternoon is really hot. We may just have another afternoon off.

Just a few minutes after setting off we arrived at Bagnall Lock. Here, and almost all of today's locks, there was at least one other boat either already coming up or waiting so there were plenty of people to lend a hand, most with a windlass.

The locks on this stretch are mostly of a similar design with a substantial foot bridge at the tail end.

More unusual, however, is the sign giving notice of the navigation conditions ahead. With no explanation of what this is about, we wonder how many newbies are quite mystified, may be even worried about what was ahead! We will come to that later . . .

Below the lock and we were now into Alrewas, a popular place to moor as it has a useful stretch of 14 day moorings right in the middle. Generally it is also rather attractive.

As we slowly passed all the moored boats we spotted Andy Tidy's Jam Butty. He is well known for is historical blogs which are full of detail of canals past as well as present, mainly in the Birmingham region. However, we have never had a chance to meet in person and today has not remedied that, alas. We did wave at each other . . .

At Alrewas Lock the canal drops down onto the River Trent for a short while. Note how dry the land is alongside the canal.

We were surprised to see how much water was running over the bywash. We know that much further down river there is a shortage of water so perhaps they need it more than the Trent and Mersey!

The majority of the river comes in here

and goes straight across and over a weir on the opposite side.

The river basin above the canal crossing is a wide delta of multiple streams - there are at least seven of these bridges in quick succession. Part of the river stream continues on for a short while, finally parting company with the canal just above the next lock.

The bridge, which carries a rather steep track, always seems to puzzle newcomers - it is obvious from the condition of the central pier that not everyone manages to line up in time.

Whilst the navigation is still party of the river, the water is very clear and as it is much deeper the under water vegetation is different and typical of running water. A tenacious tern flew overhead, making one unsuccessful dive for its lunch, but it obviously knew where to look! 

For the next few miles, the busy and noisy A38 runs very close to the canal, rarely a hedge-width away. A good number of logistics businesses occupy land on the other side of the road along here and this has resulted in a couple of new bridges built to carry lorries to and from them, replacing the older farm accommodation bridges designed for their predecessors - horses and carts!

Once, these older bridges connected with the road but economics dictated that it was not viable to build safe junctions for every one so, like this one, they lead abruptly to the wrong side of the safety barriers.

We have stayed at Barton Marina as a stopover on a couple of occasions, but not recently. We recall that the wind is a major factor when manoeuvring a boat here!

This rather intriguing summer house is at the end of a very long garden. When we looked up the property on Your Move it was a bit disappointing. The house is a small semi, just an access road width away from the A38.

Our last lock before lunch was Tattenhill. A short distance beyond was arrived alongside Branston Water Park, with a convenient designate Visitor Mooring. Even before we had lunch we had come to the conclusion that we would not move on until tomorrow!

Mid afternoon, Christine to a walk to look at the lake. She found a rather unusual seat - a plank across some fallen branches - to sit and admire the view.

5.9 Miles - 5 Locks